Affine normal surfaces with simply-connected smooth locus

Given a normal affine surface V defined over \mathbbC{\mathbb{C}}, we look for algebraic and topological conditions on V which imply that V is smooth or has at most rational singularities. The surfaces under consideration are algebraic quotients \mathbbCⁿ/G{\mathbb{C}^n/G} with an algebraic group action of G and topologically contractible surfaces. Theorem 3.6 can be considered as a global version of the well-known result of Mumford giving a smoothness criterion for a germ of a normal surface in terms of the local fundamental group.     

Limit shapes and the complex Burgers equation

In this paper we study surfaces in R ³ that arise as limit shapes in random surface models related to planar dimers. These limit shapes are surface tension minimizers, that is, they minimize a functional of the form ∫σ(∇h) dx dy among all Lipschitz functions h taking given values on the boundary of the domain. The surface tension σ has singularities and is not strictly convex, which leads to formation of facets and edges in the limit shapes. We find a change of variables that reduces the Euler–Lagrange equation for the variational problem to the complex inviscid Burgers equation (complex Hopf equation). The equation can thus be solved in terms of an arbitrary holomorphic function, which is somewhat similar in spirit to Weierstrass parametrization of minimal surfaces. We further show that for a natural dense set of boundary conditions, the holomorphic function in question is, in fact, algebraic. The tools of algebraic geometry can thus be brought in to study the minimizers and, especially, the formation of their singularities. This is illustrated by several explicitly computed examples.     

The minimal model program for orders over surfaces

We develop the minimal model program for orders over surfaces and so establish a noncommutative generalisation of the existence and uniqueness of minimal algebraic surfaces. We define terminal orders and show that they have unique étale local structures. This shows that they are determined up to Morita equivalence by their centre and algebra of quotients. This reduces our problem to the study of pairs (Z,α) consisting of a surface Z and an element α of the Brauer group Brk(Z). We then extend the minimal model program for surfaces to such pairs. Combining these results yields a noncommutative version of resolution of singularities and allows us to show that any order has either a unique minimal model up to Morita equivalence or is ruled or del Pezzo.     

On the divisor class group of double solids

For a double solid V→ℙ_3> branched over a surface B⊂ℙ₃(ℂ) with only ordinary nodes as singularities, we give a set of generators of the divisor class group in terms of contact surfaces of B with only superisolated singularities in the nodes of B. As an application we give a condition when H ^* (˜V , ℤ) has no 2-torsion. All possible cases are listed if B is a quartic. Furthermore we give a new lower bound for the dimension of the code of B. Received: 16 November 1998     

Algebraicity of Global Real Analytic Hypersurfaces

Let X be an algebraic manifold without compact component and let V be a compact coherent analytic hypersurface in X, with finite singular set. We prove that V is diffeotopic (in X) to an algebraic hypersurface in X if and only if the homology class represented by V is algebraic and singularities are locally analytically equivalent to Nash singularities. This allows us to construct algebraic hypersurfaces in X with prescribed Nash singularities.     

On the Singularities of Surfaces Ruled by Conics

We classify the singularities of a surface ruled by conics: they are rational double points of type A _n or D _n . This is proved by showing that they arise from a precise series of blow-ups of a suitable surface geometrically ruled by conics. We determine also the family of such surfaces which are birational models of a given surface ruled by conics and obtained in a “minimal way” from it.     

An algebraic proof of Iitaka‚s conjecture C 2, 1

We give a proof of Iitaka‘s conjecture C_{2, 1} using only elementary methods from algebraic geometry. The main point we show is that, given a non-isotrivial and relatively minimal model of a family f : X ? B f : X \rightarrow B , where X is a surface and B is a curve, both smooth and projective, the direct image of the relatively canonical sheaf of differentials has strictly positive degree.     

On Some Classical Methods to Improve Algebraic Curves and Surfaces

First, a modern presentation of the theory of the Halphen transform is given. This method associates to a plane projective curve C, once a general conic has been chosen, another birationally equivalent plane curve, whose singularities are simpler than those of C. Repeating, a curve is obtained whose only singularities are nodes. Next, it is studied how to apply this process to a family of plane curves. With this technique it is possible to transform a given family (with irreducible general member) into one where, generically, the curves are nodal. Finally, it is studied a similar process, called the Halphen–Picard transformation, for surfaces in three-space. By suitably reiterating this procedure, a surface can be transformed into a birationally equivalent one (in the same projective space), such that the sections with planes in a general pencil are, generically, nodal curves.     

Minimal Cubic Cones via Clifford Algebras

In this paper, we construct two infinite families of algebraic minimal cones in ^n{\mathbb{R}^{n}}. The first family consists of minimal cubics given explicitly in terms of the Clifford systems. We show that the classes of congruent minimal cubics are in one to one correspondence with those of geometrically equivalent Clifford systems. As a byproduct, we prove that for any n ≥ 4, n ≠ 16k + 1, there is at least one minimal cone in \mathbbRⁿ{\mathbb{R}^{n}} given by an irreducible homogeneous cubic polynomial. The second family consists of minimal cones in \mathbbR^m2{\mathbb{R}^{m^2}}, m ≥ 2, defined by an irreducible homogeneous polynomial of degree m. These examples provide particular answers to the questions on algebraic minimal cones in \mathbbRⁿ{\mathbb{R}^{n}} posed by Wu-Yi Hsiang in the 1960s.     

Equivalence of Mirror Families Constructed from Toric Degenerations of Flag Varieties

Batyrev et al. constructed a family of Calabi–Yau varieties using small toric degenerations of the full flag variety G/B. They conjecture this family to be mirror to generic anticanonical hypersurfaces in G/B. Recently, Alexeev and Brion, as a part of their work on toric degenerations of spherical varieties, have constructed many degenerations of G/B. For any such degeneration we construct a family of varieties, which we prove coincides with Batyrev’s in the small case. We prove that any two such families are birational, thus proving that mirror families are independent of the choice of degeneration. The birational maps involved are closely related to Berenstein and Zelevinsky’s geometric lifting of tropical maps to maps between totally positive varieties.     

Reconstruction of singularities on orbifold del Pezzo surfaces from their Hilbert series

Abstract

The Hilbert series of a polarized algebraic variety (X, D) is a powerful invariant that, while it captures some features of the geometry of (X, D) precisely, often cannot recover much information about its singular locus. This work explores the extent to which the Hilbert series of an orbifold del Pezzo surface fails to pin down its singular locus, which provides nonexistence results describing when there are no orbifold del Pezzo surfaces with a given Hilbert series, supplies bounds on the number of singularities on such surfaces, and has applications to the combinatorics of lattice polytopes in the toric case.     

Algebraic zero mean curvature hypersurfaces in de Sitter and anti de Sitter spaces

In this paper we provide a family of algebraic space-like surfaces in the three dimensional anti de Sitter space that shows that this Lorentzian manifold admits algebraic maximal examples of any order. Then, we classify all the space-like order two algebraic maximal hypersurfaces in the anti de Sitter N-dimensional space. Finally, we provide two families of examples of Lorentzian order two algebraic zero mean curvature hypersurfaces in the de Sitter space.     

Minimal underlying division rings of sets of points of a projective space

Let V be a vector space over a division ring K. Let P be a spanning set of points in Σ:=PG(V). Denote by K(P) the family of sub-division rings F of K having the property that there exists a basis B_F of V such that all points of P are represented as F-linear combinations of B_F. We prove that when K is commutative, then K(P) admits a least element. When K is not commutative, then, in general, K(P) does not admit a minimal element. However we prove that under certain very mild conditions on P, any two minimal elements of K(P) are conjugate in K, and if K is a quaternion division algebra then K(P) admits a minimal element.     

Rational ODEs with Movable Algebraic Singularities

A class of second-order rational ordinary differential equations, admitting certain families of formal algebraic series solutions, is considered. For all solutions of these equations, it is shown that any movable singularity that can be reached by analytic continuation along a finite-length curve is an algebraic branch point. The existence of these formal series expansions is straightforward to determine for any given equation in the class considered. We apply the theorem to a family of equations, admitting different kinds of algebraic singularities. As a further application we recover the known fact for generic values of parameters that the only movable singularities of solutions of the Painlevé equations   P_II – P   _VI   are poles.     

Complete algebraic vector fields on affine surfaces,Part I

In this work we study the singularities at infinity of algebraic vector fields in dimension 2.These singularities will be classified under a mild assumption. The general problem is also reduced to the study of the combinatorics of certain resolutions which will be developed in Part II. Our main results are local and therefore can be carried over more general surfaces. Whereas we deal with ℂ -complete vector fields, the results also apply to ℝ-complete ones thanks to a theorem of Forstneric [7].     

Polynomial-Time Computation of the Degree of Algebraic Varieties in Zero Characteristic and Its Applications

Let k be a ground field of zero characteristic, and let V be an algebraic variety over k given as the locus of a family of polynomials of degree less than d in n variables. In the paper, we construct algorithms that have working time that is polynomial in the size of the input and d ⁿ and compute the following: the degree of the variety V, the dimension of V in a neighborhood of a given point, the multiplicity of a given point of V, and a representative system of smooth points with their tangent spaces on each component of V. Also, we construct an algorithm for deciding whether a given morphism between two given algebraic varieties V and V' is dominant. Bibliography: 17 titles.     

The Schubert Triangle Geometry on an Algebraic Surface

For a smooth complex projective surface, and for two families of curves with traditional singularities in it, we enumerate the pairs of curves in each family having two points of contact among them, thus generalizing the double contact formulae known or conjectured by Zeuthen and Schubert in the case of the complex projective plane. The technique we use to this purpose is a particular notion of triangle which can be defined in any smooth surface, thus potentially generalizing to arbitrary surfaces the Schubert technique of triangles.     

Finite Laurent Developments and the Logarithmic Residue Theorem in the Real Non-analytic Case

This paper develops a general abstract non-holomorphic operator calculus under minimal regularity requirements on the family of operators through the concept of algebraic eigenvalue and the use of a, very recent, transversalization theory. Further, it analyzes under what conditions the inverse of a non-analytic family admits a finite Laurent development, and employs the new findings to calculate the multiplicity of a real non-analytic family through a logarithmic residue, so extending the applicability of the classical theory of I. C. Gohberg and coworkers. Applications to matrix families and Nonlinear Analysis are also explained.     

Nash constructible functions

Nash constructible functions on a real algebraic set V are defined as linear combinations, with integer coefficients, of Euler characteristic of fibres of proper regular morphisms restricted to connected components of algebraic sets. We prove that if V is compact, these functions are sums of signs of semialgebraic arc-analytic functions (i.e. functions which become analytic when composed with any analytic arc). We also give a sharp upper bound to the number of semialgebraic arc-analytic functions which are necessary to define any given Nash constructible functions.